


death takes a holiday

by Hand_of_the_Alex



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, and he isnt 'neil', but neil didnt go to the foxes, set after canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-05 01:31:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11003187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hand_of_the_Alex/pseuds/Hand_of_the_Alex
Summary: The Grim Reaper is no longer able to claim lives directly. Instead, when your time is up a mark appears on your body and it is the duty of every other person to kill you on sight.The Mark appears on people as almost a beacon, or a cosmic order for death. Nathaniel should have died six years ago, he just wasn’t fast enough to dodge the cleaver his father wielded, the same one that had finished off his mother.Andrew, with nothing much to live for and a promise to keep encounters someone very familiar and if anyone is going to kill him, it's going to be Andrew.





	1. Chapter 1

Nathaniel had been living with his Mark for six years now, it steadily growing from his stomach and almost covering his chest completely, submerging all of the old scars that used to be hidden there. Being on the run the majority of his life it wasn’t anything new to be constantly on the lookout, never staying anywhere too long or being anyone for too long was the norm, his Mark just added an extra incentive to run. Death had been chasing Nathaniel for years, not just the six since he got his Mark, but ever since him and his mother ran from their house back in Baltimore. Back before the Mark he just had to look out for his father’s people but for the past six years he had to be aware of everyone.

The Mark appears on people as almost a beacon, or a cosmic order for death. Nathaniel should have died six years ago, he just wasn’t fast enough to dodge the cleaver his father wielded, the same one that had finished off his mother. The Mark started off as a thin line on his stomach where the cleaver wound should have been but instead of red and bleeding flesh it was pitch black. The first year he had successfully hidden it as it had remained the thin line and was easy to hide in the tiny town he had squatted in, he had almost graduated high school before he left, no one there knew about the Mark.

There had been close calls since then: his shirt revealing too much because of a blast of wind meaning Nathaniel had to steal a car to escape a small town hell bent on killing him, someone walking in on him showering at a truck stop so that he had to jump into the trailer of a moving truck as it left whilst also hastily getting dressed in the process and when his father’s people had finally caught up with him and tortured him until his uncle showed up and Nathaniel had stayed with him in a safe house until he recovered enough to go on the run again.

Staying with his uncle could have been beneficial, Stuart didn’t care much about the growing Mark on Nathaniel’s stomach but as a truce with the Moriyamas was up in the air (Nathaniel had learnt that his father had worked for the Japanese crime family which was hard to believe but answered the question to why his father had been at Evermore that day) Nathaniel didn’t want to get in the way as he was supposed to be Moriyama property and was a lose end from his father. So, he had left as soon as he could painlessly move his hands and his face wasn’t as much as a sliced-up mess, the scars left from that day were still evident but Nathaniel’s usual oversized clothes hid the arms, he wore fingerless gloves most of the time to hide the mess on his hands and grew his hair out to try and hide the ones on his face.

Over the years, it was almost inevitable that Nathaniel would find himself in a familiar city with a hair and eye colour he had had before, there were only so many variations and the rate that Nathaniel had to run and change his appearance was steadily inclining. This also meant that he was running very low on cash, meaning his last contact he’d went to, to get his name changed and all his papers was more expensive than usual because Nathaniel had also needed credible enough papers to get a cheap apartment so that he would have an address to get a job.

The apartments in Columbia, South Carolina were moderately cheap and there were plenty of job opportunities around, so that was where Nathaniel had found himself, or where his latest alias Tom Grayson had found himself. His small unfurnished apartment was only a five-minute run away from the train station and had an easy access fire escape.

Nathaniel didn’t know what had brought him to South Carolina, the place where he could have lived 5 years ago when Coach David Wymack of the Palmetto State Foxes had offered him (back when he was living as Neil Josten) a place on his Class I exy team, Nathaniel had wanted to accept it so much and was so close to doing so but having Kevin Day there along with his father still being alive at that point and the mark on his stomach that meant that if someone saw it they would have to kill him. This was just too much for him to accept so he ran and left Neil Josten behind. So, Nathaniel just told himself that it was a logical choice to end up in South Carolina as he didn’t want to risk flying on his fake passport so he couldn’t leave the country.

Waking up in his own apartment was still disorientating after two weeks of living there, having his own bed wasn’t something he was used to even if it was one of the only pieces of furniture he owned. Once he had gotten over the strange feeling Nathaniel got up and went on his morning run before showering and making his breakfast in his small, falling apart kitchen. He opened his smart phone to check his emails for any responses to the job applications he’d sent off and seeing nothing but spam made him lock his phone and fall dejectedly onto his rock-hard chair.

At that moment, his phone began to ring, it still startled him even after having a phone for two years now. The screen displaying the encoded name was safe enough for Nathaniel to answer it, Stuart usually did check in now and again to make sure that Nathaniel was still alive even though the growing Mark on his chest meant that he shouldn’t be.

“Hello.” Nathaniel said.

“Hey kiddo, glad to hear you’re still alive.” Stuart greeted as he always did.

“Is there any other reason that you’re calling?” Nathaniel asked.

“Bloody hell Nathaniel can’t I just call to see that my own nephew is alive since the whole world is after you?” Stuart irritably asked before sighing. “I heard that you got yourself a flat. You sure that’s a good idea? Staying in the same place for this long?”

“As long as I stay covered up and my ID holds up then I should be fine.” Nathaniel replied, not wanting to tell Stuart of his money problems knowing that his uncle’s solution would be to do a job for the family or for him to risk wiring Nathaniel some illegally acquired money drawing attention to him.

“Well if you think that it’ll be fine, I trust you.” Stuart said and then sighed again. “I just worry about you, I know you’re an adult now but I still feel like I need to keep an eye out for you, for Mary’s sake.”

Nathaniel held back his own sigh after Stuart bringing Mary into things and seeming like he thinks that now that his sister is gone that he must act as Nathaniel’s new parent. “I’m fine, no need to keep an eye out for me, you did enough by killing my father.” Nathaniel added to try and cut the conversation short like every mention of Nathan Wesninski often did.

“Right Nathaniel, I have to go now. Watch out for yourself.” Stuart said, this tone changed and icier.

Nathaniel cut off the call and shrank back into the chair. Not having any plans and his social interaction maxed out for the day left him feeling uneasy, he was already staying in the same place but it still felt odd to not have to limit how much time he was spending in the place he was sleeping after years of squatting or living in other not so legal places.

It was just then that his phone buzzed, Nathaniel didn’t flinch like he used to but it was almost that, he expected it to be his uncle again as no one other than Stuart and his landlord had his number but surprisingly it wasn’t. He let it ring a couple of times before warily answering it, planning his escape route in his mind.

“Hello?” Nathaniel said, more of a question than a greeting.

“Hi, is this Tom?” An unfamiliar man’s voice asked.

“Yes.” Nathaniel answered.

“Oh good, this is Roland from Eden’s Twilight, the club where you submitted a job application.” Roland explained and Nathaniel found himself sitting up straight even though no one could see him. “Would you mind coming in for an interview today? Sorry about the short notice but the new hire didn’t show up.”

“Yeah sure, what time?” Nathaniel asked, his low mood suddenly perking up with the prospect of a job.

“How about 2pm?”

“I’ll be there, thank you.”

“Okay then, see you later.”

“Bye.” Nathaniel said as Roland put the phone down.

Still being relatively early in the morning Nathaniel had time to actually look up the place where he might be working, from its website it seemed to be a nightclub which catered to people with interesting fashion sense if the pictures were anything to go by. It made Nathaniel think of his own rather tame and indistinct wardrobe and that perhaps he would have to go out and spend money he didn’t have to try and fit in and higher his chances of getting the job.

So, Nathaniel grabbed some cash, pocketed his phone and left his apartment to go clothes shopping with no idea what to buy. He knew his way around the shopping district of Columbia (it would be the easiest place to lose someone if they were following him so he’d made sure to memorise it on his first trip there) so Nathaniel made his way to the large department store and straight to the men’s section.

Bypassing all the displays with, in Nathaniel’s opinion, god awful pink shorts modelled with boat shoes of all things, he made his way to the corner with the darkest clothing in it. Nathaniel selected a cheap fake leather jacket, some skinny fitting black jeans and some uncomfortably tight black t-shirts. He went to the self-checkout and then quickly left the store, not liking to be out in public and wanting to go back to the apartment to try the clothes on as he definitely wasn’t risking a changing room.

Checking the clock as he got in and seeing that it was 1pm already, Nathaniel quickly changed into his new jeans, one of the t-shirts and the leather jacket and set off as the club was half an hour away from the apartment and he’d read (when he was researching good interview techniques, getting desperate as his money ran lower and lower) that it was best that he arrived early.

The club was closed when he got there, only three cars in the car park and no bouncers outside the door. Nathaniel went to knock on the door just as it opened to reveal a man carrying a box filled with glass bottles. He seemed to be in his early thirties, with a t-shirt that had been cut just above the belly button revealing the man’s subtle abs. The man almost walked into Nathaniel before realising that his path wasn’t empty.

“Oh my god” The man said, startled. “I’m sorry but we’re closed now.” He said as Nathaniel moved out of his way.

“Um, I’m Tom Grayson and here about the job.” Nathaniel replied, trying to give off an air of confidence and failing miserably.

“Oh! You’re a little early. No matter though! I’m Roland, the one who called you earlier.” Roland said, looking like he was about to shake Nathaniel’s hand but then remembering that his hands were full.

Nathaniel didn’t know whether he should apologise about being early or just stay silent and wait for Roland to finish his task. He decided to wait and stayed there until Roland came back around the club with his hands now empty of the box of booze.

“Follow me.” He said and lead Nathaniel inside the club up to the second floor and sat down on one of the white leather couches which were sticky with what Nathaniel hoped was spilled drinks.

“So, you dot have any experience working at a bar?” Roland asked.

“Yes, I worked at a club in England before I came back to the states.” Nathaniel said, the lies spilling out of him as easy as ever.

“Well that’s good then.” Roland said and looked Nathaniel over in a way that made him want to shrink into himself. “I was wondering what country that odd number was from in your references.”

It wasn’t an actual club but one of the Hatford’s pubs where Nathaniel had permission to use the number and they would lie for him. He’d hated asking his uncle for that favour and had to figure out an elaborate lie to why he would need a reference in the first place which led to an exhausting conversation.

Roland then asked him other questions about times he could work and what he would be comfortable doing before seriously saying, “Look I would ask you to make a drink as an example but as I said on the phone earlier we need an extra staff member and preferably tonight, the club opens in a while and I, well we, need to set up as soon as possible. So just for tonight would you mind working without signing anything and checking things because I’m rather desperate and management would be after my head if I don’t find a replacement. Don’t worry about the wage, I’ll add it to your pay after we finalise all the boring stuff.”

“Okay.” Nathaniel simply said and watched as relief etched Roland’s expression.

“Oh, thank God.” Roland said before explaining what Nathaniel had to do for the night and then lead him to the downstairs bar and showed him where everything was.

Once Roland had left him alone Nathaniel stood behind the bar and began to process what had just happened, he’d actually gotten a job and it was quick and easy. He thought of all of the things that could have gone wrong, for example that t-shirt that Roland was wearing could have been the uniform and Nathaniel definitely couldn’t expose his midriff and the Mark overtaking his freckled and scarred skin, there could have been a chance of seeing someone he knew and having to bolt and leave everything behind and the near thing of having to make a drink for Roland that he didn’t know how to make. He stopped himself before the thoughts of everything that could have gone wrong consumed him.

As the club wasn’t open yet it gave Nathaniel some time to quickly search up popular drinks and how to make them on his phone and try and memorise it, he thought he had most of them down. If someone asked for something he didn’t know how to make he could just say he was getting something from the back and quickly search it up on his phone or pawn the patron off on one of the other bartenders under the guise of having a smoke break.

The club opened at 5pm and started off quite empty, but Nathaniel put that down to how early it was and it being a Thursday. He was got through the first couple of drinks with no problems and only had to look on his phone once for something he thought he’d gotten right but had to double check.

“Forget how to make it?” Roland asked, his voice raised so Nathaniel would hear it over the bass of the music.

“They call it something different in England, just making sure.” Nathaniel said with a fake laugh.

“Well better to check your phone than make a bad drink.” Roland said and Nathaniel responded again with a forced laugh before finishing making the drink.

The rest of the night ran surprisingly smoothly and Nathaniel found himself enjoying having something to do other than anxiously sit in his apartment. He didn’t enjoy, however, making small talk with drunk people or them asking for his phone number for some reason. After the night was over and people had filtered out of the club Nathaniel made his way over to Roland.

“Well Tom, I’m glad that I hired you.” Roland said, wiping the sweat off his brow. “Come in at 4 tomorrow and that’ll give us time to set up and for you to sign all that official stuff.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow then.” Nathaniel said.

“You don’t speak much do you?” Roland said before shaking his head. “Good job you’re pretty.”

Nathaniel didn’t know how to reply to that so he just put the bar rag on the side before leaving the club. He ran home, which was uncomfortable in what he was wearing as he’d already gotten rather sweaty under the lights of the club, especially wearing the leather jacket and his fingerless gloves. Once he got back to his apartment he stripped it all off and got into a long sleeved t-shirt and sweatpants before going to sleep and setting his alarm for tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who???

The next morning Nathaniel woke up an hour later than usual to his alarm, he thought he would need more sleep after the long night last night and the night that was bound to be later this night as it was a Friday. He went for his daily run, had a shower once he got back and then with a couple of hours empty he researched more drinks that he might have to make so that he wouldn’t have to check his phone whilst working later on.

With an hour before he had to get to work, Nathaniel made himself a sad microwave meal, ate it and got dressed in a different variation of the outfit he wore yesterday. Slipping on his fingerless gloves and combing his black hair so that it covered his scars a little bit more was all he needed to do before setting off.

He got to Eden’s Twilight with time to spare but Roland let him in anyway to get a head start on the paperwork. Nathaniel signed ‘Tom’s’ signature and his position at the club was now secure and he would get paid next week. He breathed in deeply in relief, he knew that he had worked yesterday and would be paid for it but it felt better to have a secure job and be saving up money for his inevitable get away, perhaps he would save up enough to go to a different country, if those Mark scanners the government were imposing weren’t there yet.

Nathaniel once again followed Roland to his spot behind the bar and they both (along with another bartender Nathaniel didn’t bother to learn the name of) got set up for the probable busy night ahead. Roland and the other bartender were chatting about someone’s honeymoon or something like that as Nathaniel stood by the bar waiting for the club to open and to brace his ears for the booming bass music.

“So, Tom, do you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, or both?” Roland asked.

“No?” Nathaniel answered, not knowing why anyone would care or why Roland was trying to pull him into this conversation.

“C’mon a pretty face like yours must be taken.” Roland said, gesturing towards Nathaniel’s face.

“I don’t see the point in relationships.” Nathaniel replied, hoping to end the conversation as he could say ‘my mom beat me after I kissed a girl and now I’m supposed to be dead so there’s no point in even friendship with people.’

“The world’s loss.” Roland replied but thankfully left it at that.

“So, what did you think of last night, working the bar. Easier than in England?” The other bartender asked Nathaniel.

“Different. More young adults and less middle aged men.” Nathaniel lied, staring at the clock and hoping it would go faster.

“Must have been less work though.” The guy said with a small laugh.

Nathaniel just hummed in reply. The two bartenders seemed to finally take a hint and just talked to each other. The minutes ticked by much slower than Nathaniel would have liked but it was finally opening time, the music had started up about ten minutes earlier to try and draw people in.

People were steadily let in by the bouncers, the crowd growing much quicker than it had the previous day making Nathaniel glad that he was on this side of the bar and not stuck in the mass of sweaty bodies decked out in leather. He was making drinks much quicker and with less hesitation than yesterday making him glad that he’d done some further research on drinks.

He was steadily getting on with his job, taking drink orders and getting them out quickly, avoiding as much small talk as possible. Nathaniel thought that this was a good job (he couldn’t compare it to anything but it wasn’t difficult and he hadn’t been found out yet so he counted that as a good job), but then just as everything in Nathaniel’s life, something had to go wrong.

At a stool on the other side of the bar was sat a small man, he had light blonde hair and zero expression on his face. That would have been fine if Nathaniel hadn’t immediately recognised him as Andrew Minyard, formerly of the Palmetto State Foxes and the same man that winded Nathaniel with an exy stick on his last day at Millport (which was also the last time he’d ever played exy).

And suddenly, it was silence inside Nathaniel’s mind, the music blasting from the speakers just a sensation under his fingertips as he held onto the side of the bar. In the list of what could go wrong, this wasn’t the worst thing but it definitely wasn’t ideal as Nathaniel would have to avoid Andrew at all costs and if this was a regular place for him, this would become a problem that might force Nathaniel out of a job he’d just gotten and was actually enjoying.

Trying to think clearly, Nathaniel knew that he would have to leave immediately before Andrew spotted him, a smoke break or an important phone call from a family member were easy enough to believe lies he thought. The problem was getting to Roland to tell him this when Andrew’s hazel eyes seemed to be scouring behind the bar.

Nathaniel quickly stepped into the back room which stored the casks of beer and extra bottles, he had tried for subtlety but felt like he’d failed when he looked down to see that he’d caught himself of the counter next to the door and ripped a whole into his t-shirt. He looked down in horror to see his Mark was visible, almost making it look like his skin was part of the black t-shirt if the Mark wasn’t such an unearthly shade of black that seemed to consume the skin underneath it.

Nathaniel hurriedly zipped up his leather jacket, not ideal in the heat that exuded from the sweaty bodies dancing around in the club but was much better than the alternative of having a mob chasing after him trying to kill him for good. The incident of his Mark showing made Nathaniel momentarily forget why he was in the back room in the first place until he turned around to see Roland walking in with Andrew following him.

Nathaniel was frozen as Andrew finally turned to face him, the apathetic look on his face fleetingly changed to a look Nathaniel couldn’t describe and he didn’t think that he wanted to. Thankfully Roland seemed to notice that he and Andrew weren’t alone and turned to face Nathaniel, a slight blush steadily building on his freckled skin.

“Ah Tom, would you mind watching my section of the bar… I’m showing… Me and Andrew here are just…” Roland trailed off, looking anywhere but into Nathaniel’s eyes unlike Andrew who’s glare Nathaniel could feel piercing into him.

“Yeah I’ll watch over it.” Nathaniel replied, facing Roland so that Andrew didn’t have a clear look at him so hopefully he wouldn’t remember him.

“Thanks Tom.” Roland said, visibly relieved back to his usual outgoing demeanour.

“Yes. ‘Tom’. Thanks.” Andrew said, his expression not changing but Nathaniel heard the smirk as Andrew said his name.

Nathaniel got out of the store room, sweating under his jacket, making it feel heavier on his slight frame, without even stepping into the crowded room and strobe lights. He let out a shuddered breath before he was called over by a customer. He messed up a couple of orders trying to think of what he should do now that he was basically found out, if his mother was still alive they’d be out of the city already and onto the next location and alias, but his mother was dead and he was tired of not living.

It was about half an hour since Andrew and Roland had gone into the back room and they still hadn’t resurfaced, Nathaniel hoped that he didn’t have to get anything from storage. The door seemed to be locked too, thinking back to Andrew’s history that he had kept up on Nathaniel was starting to wonder if Andrew had done something to Roland.

Andrew had always been painted in the media as violent, uncaring and destructive. He was even on mind altering drugs for a while which were supposed to make him more friendly and were a condition of his parole after almost killing four men. He was taken off the drugs after an incident in which his twin had killed a man, the details weren’t released to the general public no matter how much prying people had tried to do. After that incident, the Foxes were too small to be qualified with Andrew gone and his twin Aaron in jail. That was also when Kevin went back to the Ravens who went on to win again. Nathaniel had kept a closer eye on the Foxes since they’d tried to recruit him and he couldn’t say that he wasn’t disappointed when they didn’t finish the season and wondered what his presence there could have done for a team already so broken.

His growing curiosity of whether Roland was alive was stated when he and Andrew made their way out of the store room, Roland looking rather flushed but alive. Andrew thankfully didn’t look at Nathaniel again and just made his way to a table further away from the bar. Roland then turned towards Nathaniel and clapped him on the shoulder so unexpectedly that Nathaniel just suppressed his flinch.

“Thanks.” Roland said, his hand slipping off Nathaniel’s shoulder and further down his back for a split second before Roland went towards his side of the bar.

The rest of the night was busy but Nathaniel had regained his composure and did his job, he was glad for the heavy workload of a Friday night because it meant he didn’t have time to think, especially of the risk to his current identity and where he should go next when he didn’t have enough money.

When the crowd was dying down and the minutes ticked closer the last call Nathaniel had realised that some point in the night Andrew must have left. Nathaniel let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and got back to work.

Over the next half an hour the club was empty after last call, the bouncers had escorted some of the drunker club goers out and then it was up to the bartenders to clean up and get ready to leave. Nathaniel couldn’t wait to get back to his apartment, take off his stuffy jacket and sleep until Sunday because he had the day off tomorrow.

“You can go now if you want Tom.” Roland offered, “We’ll finish the clean-up.”

“You sure?” Nathaniel asked politely.

“Yeah, go home.” Roland said and waved his hand in the direction of the door.

Nathaniel put down the glass he was cleaning, said goodbye to the two bartenders and left the building. The warmth he’d built up didn’t last long in the 3am cold, he put his hands in his pockets and started to walk to his apartment.

It took only two minutes before Nathaniel realised he was being followed. He made a sharp left into a road which he remembered having lots of allies for a quick place to hide. Once he was onto the street he started to run, he’d been running for years and was undeniably fast so he made short work of losing his follower. He ran the rest of the way to his apartment, taking a longer route just in case the person had caught up somehow or was tracking him.

He got the apartment complex when he was roughly shoved into the cold brick wall outside the door. Nathaniel tried to lash out at his attacker, kicking his legs first and then trying to twist out of the strong grip on his shoulders. Twisting around meant he got a look at whoever it was though, Nathaniel was shocked to see that it was the other bartender that had worked with Nathaniel and Roland tonight.

The man (Jake? Jackson?) had the pick from the bar’s ice bucket in his hand, looking at Nathaniel’s stomach before put the pick in his pocket and unzipped the leather jacket hiding the Mark below. The bartender looked relieved before bringing his gaze back up to Nathaniel’s eyes.

“I knew I saw this earlier when you ducked into the store room. Trying to escape death Tom?” The man asked.

Nathaniel didn’t answer so the bartender (Jason! Nathaniel recalled) continued. “I’ve never done this before, since people stopped dying it had been a dream of mine to end someone, that’s what God would want. It’s a sacred and holy justice I think.”

“Are you going to do it or just keep monologing?” Nathaniel asked, surveying the area for possible ways to get out of this unseen and run.

“You think you’re the shit don’t you? Just ‘cos you didn’t die and no one has killed you yet. Here’s a secret Tom, you wouldn’t have lasted much longer anyway. Haven’t you read about what happens when people keep the Mark for too long, when they get Shaded?” Jason asked and Nathaniel just stood there not wanting to let his unease show.

“Keep monologing? Ok, solid plan for killing me I guess, keep talking until I kill myself or my brain shrivels up from your ‘divine words’.” Nathaniel said, knowing he probably shouldn’t provoke Jason but he was getting uncomfortable against the brick wall and it was in his nature to start fights he couldn’t finish.

“This is my mission from God and I won’t have you ruining the moment!” Jason shouted, acting like a petulant brat but his grip was loosening.

“If there was a God I would be dead already.” Nathaniel baited, hoping for Jason to lose his grip some more.

“My Minister said that God put this here as a test!” Jason argued, his grip slipping some more.

“You sure it’s not just power hungry men who get off at the sight of blood and the only way they can feel powerful is to kill someone who’s just trying to live as long as they can?” Nathaniel asked causing Jason’s face to show how livid he was.

That must have been the last straw as Jason released Nathaniel all together to pull back a punch even though he had a deadlier pick in his pocket, forgotten in anger. Nathaniel was now able to dodge out of the way as Jason punched the brick wall. He looked around for something to use to knock Jason out (Jason was much taller than Nathaniel was so he couldn’t exactly do it with his hands) but just as Jason turned back around, cradling his bloody fist someone was there blocking his way. Nathaniel chastised himself for not hearing someone else approach and was prepared to run before he saw who it was.

Andrew Minyard stood there, knife in hand facing Jason. Jason’s eyes widened when he spotted the blade and its wielder. Andrew went for Jason, kicking out his legs so he fell to the ground and easier for Andrew to reach. Jason finally remembered the pick in his pocket it seemed as he got it out and held it in his good hand but it was no use as Andrew quickly disarmed him and went for his throat. The blade slashed a red line across Jason’s throat, blood pumping out and the life leaving Jason’s body.

Andrew then turned towards Nathaniel, cleaning his knife on his shirt.

“I’d zip that jacket up unless you want someone else to try and finish you off.” Andrew said, his tone bland and lifeless.

“Are you not going to kill me?” Nathaniel asked, as soon as most people saw the Mark they went straight for him.

“I thought about it but you’re now interesting enough to keep my attention. Isn’t it Neil? Or is it Tom now?”

Nathaniel hesitated before deciding. “It’s Neil, I was using Tom to get people off my trail because of…” He said and gestured to his stomach before zipping up his jacket.

“Well Neil, are you going to invite me into your lovely home?” Andrew asked and Nathaniel was inclined to say no but Andrew knowing his secret was enough for him to hesitate. “I would have thought you’d like to talk about your precarious situation and the situation bleeding next to me.”

Nathaniel had almost forgotten about Jason. “Do you have a car?” He asked Andrew.

“Yes.”

“I’m going to get a rug to roll him up into, make sure no one sees him and then we need to burn the body.” Nathaniel explained, Andrew’s eyebrows raising was the first expression he’d seen from him.

Andrew tipped his head a little which Nathaniel read as ‘go ahead’ so he quickly ran up to his apartment, grabbed the ugly rug that had come with the place and ran back down, the rug hitting every step. Thankfully Andrew was still there when he got back out, he didn’t help Nathaniel roll the body into the rug but he did bring his car around when Nathaniel had asked.

They both hoisted the body into the car, struggling to fit it into the cramped trunk of the car but squished it down enough to close it. Andrew lit a cigarette and went and sat in the car, Nathaniel wasn’t far behind after rinsing down the bloody area where Jason was killed.

“Is there a beach or a woods around here?” Nathaniel asked.

“I have a better place.” Andrew said, he didn’t elaborate as they sped off.

It didn’t take long until Andrew stopped the car, parking it in the driveway of a house. Nathaniel was wary but got out of the car when Andrew did surveying the area for anyone walking around at this time of night.

“Uh, who’s house is this?” Nathaniel asked, not sure if he should whisper or not.

“Mine.” Andrew responded before grabbing the legs of Jason’s body leaving Nathaniel with the head which was poking out the top of the rug.

They carried the body around the side of the house and into the back garden, Andrew went into the house and came out a moment later with gasoline. He poured it over the body and then took the lighter (Nathaniel tried not to flinch away from it) from his packet of cigarettes and lit the body until the gasoline overtook it.

The smell of a burning body was bringing back memories that Nathaniel had only held onto whenever he smoke. After his father had finished off his mother it had taken three days for her to bleed out, they’d drove around the coast before stopping at a beach where Nathaniel had set his mother’s body alight and hidden her charred bones in the sand.

His breathing got more laboured as he struggled for breath, it told himself it was just the smoke inhalation but unfortunately knew a panic attack when he had one. He stepped further from the fire and Andrew, he took deep breaths but the smoke and smell was overbearing. He had to get out of this garden but couldn’t make it seem like he was running from Andrew.

Unable to think through the panic any longer, Nathaniel slid down the wall of Andrew’s house and brought his knees up to his face. If he was crying he didn’t know as the heat from the fire was taking all the moisture from his body and the would be tears.

After an hour, Andrew put the fire out and Nathaniel made his way over to see just black burnt bones in the dirt. Andrew turned towards Nathaniel as if expecting him to say what to do next. They’d need to get rid of them obviously, it’d take 4 more hours to burn them but the sun was coming up and people would be awake soon, so it would be easier to bury them.

Nathaniel said this to Andrew who went to get a shovel. He came back with only one in hand and gave it to Nathaniel. Nathaniel glared as he got about digging in the corner of Andrew’s garden. Spending half an hour digging a fairly deep hole and depositing the bones in there had taken all of the already lacking energy Nathaniel had, he lay down on the grass that was left and closed his eyes for a second.

He woke up to a kick to the foot, he thrashed to get away from whoever it was before he looked up to see Andrew and relaxed slightly.

“You really do have a death wish, don’t you?” Andrew asked. “Taunting your attacker and then falling asleep outside of a someone that you’ve met twice and saw kill a man yesterday’s house.”

“I just closed my eyes for a second because I had to dig a hole on my own.” Nathaniel defended himself.

“It’s been four hours, now get off my grass.”

Nathaniel got up, his back aching from the hard ground after becoming accustomed to sleeping in a slightly softer bed. Andrew led them back into his house, he went to the fridge and grabbed himself a beer before sitting at the table inviting Nathaniel to do the same.

“So, Neil, I want to make a deal with you.” Andrew said.

“What sort of deal?” Nathaniel asked, warily.

“I’ll protect you and be the one to kill you before the end if you help me with something.”

“What sort of something?”

“Hunting someone down for taking something that didn’t belong to them.” Andrew vaguely responded.

“Who?”

“Riko Moriyama.” Andrew said and Nathaniel thought of the Riko he met as a child.

“What did he take?”

“So, you’ll agree to the deal?” Andrew said, evading the question.

“What did he take?” Nathaniel repeated.

“Kevin Day.” Andrew replied, twiddling a knife around that Nathaniel hadn’t seen him take out.

“What happens if I refuse this deal?” Nathaniel asked.

“You can go free, probably die within the year because you can’t stay here with what I know.”

“Why do you assume Riko took Kevin and he didn’t just return of his own free will?” Nathaniel asked, not liking what Andrew had just said because it was probably true.

Andrew stuck the knife in the table, “They beat the free will out of him years before that.”

“What?” Nathaniel asked, not quite understanding who would beat Kevin Day, the son of exy.

“The Ravens beat their players into submission and force a hive mind mentality upon them all, you probably read what happened to Jean Moreau.”

Nathaniel had read what had happened to a member of the Perfect Court, he’d killed himself before finals of the year Nathaniel would have joined the Foxes. It had been all over exy news for weeks, people mourning for the talent he could have been, Riko and Kevin were interviewed more than once saying how the pressure had gotten to him and it was a tragedy. After what Andrew had just revealed however, it seemed like pressure wasn’t the only thing that brought Moreau to kill himself.

“He killed himself.”

“After Riko beat him half to death.”

“Why did Kevin leave in the first place if as you say he had no free will?”

“Riko broke his hand.”

Nathaniel couldn’t believe it. He’d obsessed over Kevin and Riko after meeting them as a child, he couldn’t believe that Riko would destroy Kevin’s chances for a career in exy.

“So, you want to get Kevin back?” Nathaniel asked.

“No, he broke his promise and was a coward. I keep my promises. I want to find Riko so that I can kill him.” Andrew revealed.

“Okay.” Nathaniel said.

“Okay, what?” Andrew asked.

“I’ll take your deal.”

“Well I promise to be the one to kill you.”

“And I promise to help you kill Riko.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this chapter, getting some more story into it and a deal. ahhh im so excited
> 
> Also fun fact Jason's minister was Luther Hemmick and thats why he was saying stuff like that, it wasnt a dig at christians or anything.
> 
> Please comment what you thought!!


	3. Chapter 3

After making their deal, Andrew got up from the table taking his beer with him and went to sit on the large couch in the living room. Nathaniel followed him, wondering what he should be doing at that moment.

“Are you going to follow me around like a lost puppy?” Andrew asked after taking a drink of his beer.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing in helping you track down Riko.” Nathaniel admitted.

“Nothing right now when you’re dead on your feet and covered in dried blood and dirt.” Andrew stated before gesturing down the hall, “go shower and then sleep in one of the spare rooms.”

Nathaniel didn’t respond other than a sigh of relief before heading down the hall, opening a couple of doors before he found a bathroom which thankfully had a lock on the door. There was already a set of clothes hung up on the door and a soft looking towel folded up on the toilet lid. So, Nathaniel stripped down out of his grimy clothes leaving them in a pile on the floor.

He turned on the shower, getting the water as hot as possible before stepping in under the spray. He washed thoroughly making sure to get all the blood off him. He had done this too many times to count in his life, when he was much younger his mother used to help scrub the blood off him usually very harshly until his skin stung. He shook his head as if to dislodge the thought before rinsing off. Showers were good for more than just cleaning off blood though, they were the best place to have a crisis, exerstential or not. It was there that Nathaniel could think of why the hell he had just agreed to help Andrew hunt down the brother of one of the most powerful crime lords in America.

He should have just ran, it wouldn’t be any different to all of the times he’d done it before. Money was problem but he could have done a quick favour for his uncle no matter how unpleasant at least he wouldn’t be trapped in a house with someone he didn’t know and would never trust. Andrew could kill him at any moment and be hailed a good member of society for getting rid of another dead man trying to hold on. He didn’t know Andrew’s intentions fully either, all he knew was that Andrew wanted Riko dead for taking Kevin away from him. Nathaniel didn’t know how much Kevin meant to Andrew or if it was just his principle of not breaking a promise.

The water was starting to get cold so Nathaniel stopped thinking about all of that and got out of the shower. The clothes Andrew had put out for him fit well, the black jumper was large on Nathaniel’s frame but the length was good, the sweats were supposed to be skinny fit but the fabric around his thighs and calves hung off him more than it should have. He looked in the mirror before realising he forgot to put his contacts back in after his short nap in the garden (thankfully he’d taken them out even though he wasn’t planning on sleeping but the fear of them moving and blinding him made it so he took them out even in his tired daze). Andrew hadn’t said anything about the bright blue of Nathaniel’s eyes, didn’t even react in the slightest but Nathaniel was beginning to think that Andrew didn’t outwardly react to anything.

He tore his eyes away from the mirror, the blue not as awful to look at as it once was but unsettling all the same. He patted his wet hair down so that it covered his scars a bit (he hoped as he couldn’t see what he was doing), then unlocked the door and made his way to one of the bedrooms he passed on the way to the bathroom.

The room was quite large with two single beds in it, dust covering most of the surfaces showing that no one had been in here for a while. Nathaniel went to the closest bed putting his phone on the bedside table and setting an alarm and then falling asleep almost immediately from the exhaustion that his garden nap didn’t sate earlier.

His dreams as usual quickly turned to nightmares, not childish nightmares of ghouls and monsters, but real life events that have happened to Nathaniel. It was usually the day his father finally found him, the familiar grin staring back at him with those haunting blue eyes that Nathaniel couldn’t help but wince at. His delight when he saw the Mark on his ‘son’ because he wouldn’t even have to deal with body clean up and this wouldn’t be murder. In his nightmare, his father had finished him off and his broken body turned to dust.

He woke up to his alarm the loud noise startling him from the awful nightmare, he turned it off and then made his way to the living room. It was empty but there was noise coming from the kitchen so Nathaniel peered around the door to see Andrew stood on the counter and taking a glass from an upper shelf, the sight almost made Nathaniel laugh but after seeing Andrew easily kill a man last night he held it in. He made a quiet noise to signal that he was there but not startle Andrew, Andrew turned around with an impassive look on his face before he hopped off the counter.

“I ordered pizza, it should be here soon.” Andrew said, filling up his glass with dr pepper.

“Thanks for the, uh, clothes.” Nathaniel awkwardly said.

“I didn’t want you ruining my furniture by getting crusty blood on it.” Andrew said dismissively.

“Yeah, well thanks anyway.”

The door-bell rang cutting through the awkward atmosphere, Andrew went to the door leaving Nathaniel in the kitchen alone. The reality of the deal he had gotten himself into was still hitting him, he should have just run and didn’t know why he hadn’t it wouldn’t be the first time he’d ran from a potentially stable place. He told himself it was because of his lack of money and not the bone deep tiredness of starting over too many times and not living with whatever time he had left until the Mark took over. What Nathaniel also was confused about was why Andrew chose him to help hunt down Riko with him. He could have picked someone he knew, someone he trusted but instead he chose Nathaniel.

Andrew then walked back into the kitchen, two pizza boxes balanced on his hand before he put them down on the counter. They both dug into their respective pizzas before Nathaniel asked Andrew the question that was bugging him.

“Why me?”

“Are you talking to me or having an existential crisis and asking the air dramatically?” Andrew said causing Nathaniel to sigh.

“Why did you pick me to help you kill Riko?” Nathaniel expanded.

“Because you obviously have some unsavoury contacts or someone very powerful watching your back which I doubt since you’re already half way to the grave.” Andrew said, “I started tracking you down after I left Palmetto and ‘Neil Josten’ didn’t exist.”

“Why were you tracking me down?” Nathaniel asked, panic rising because if Andrew had been hired by one of his father’s men then he still might hand him in.

“You were the reason we didn’t have enough players and Kevin left the Foxes, with you there might have been a chance he stayed.”

“Would you have killed me?” Nathaniel asked calmly, the panic settling now he knew Andrew had tried to track him down for his own reasons.

“Yes. Does that frighten you?”

“I’ve spent my life surrounded by people trying or had tried to kill me, it’s nothing new.”

“You get more and more interesting.”

“Thank you?”

“No, thank you. This Riko hunt might actually be more entertaining now.”

“Glad to be of service. So, what have you got so far for a plan of trying to hunt Riko down, I mean it shouldn’t be hard he’s just a psychotic exy player with a crime family to back him up. You did know that the Moriyamas are a Yakuza group, right?” Nathaniel asked, trying to remember all of what his uncle told him about the intricacies of the family to try to dissuade Andrew from this Riko witch hunt.

“Yes, Kevin told me when he came to Palmetto. How do you know who they really are?”

“Like you said I have some unsavoury contacts.”

“Is that how ‘Neil Josten’ went off the grid after Wymack tried to sign you?” Andrew asked. “What name did you take after that?”

“Dennis Matthews.” Nathaniel responded in a bland tone, not letting Andrew taunt him for what he had to do to get away.

“How many names have you had? ‘Neil’.”

“More than you.” Nathaniel replied, so many that he’d stopped changing how he referred to himself and stuck to his birth name as the alias’ stacked up and there was no point considering he didn’t even speak to anyone long enough for a name to matter.

“Oh, I’m sure you have.”

“So, how are you expecting to kill Riko when his family is that powerful and probably has armed guards around him at all times?” Nathaniel asked, trying to change the subject.

“Well obviously, he’d need to be alone, I can’t take on that many people at once especially if they’re armed and I doubt you’d be very good in a fight after what I saw last night. How have you survived this long? Well I guess you wouldn’t have if Death hadn’t quit his job and left it to us.”

Nathaniel ignored the insults, “And how exactly are you going to get him alone? It’s not like he’s not careful.”

“He’s a spoiled child who lashes out when he doesn’t get his way or someone is better than him. That’s when he stops being careful, when his fragile ego is at stake.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“We need to take something that is his, he’ll try and get it back and be reckless in doing so.”

“How do you know that?” Nathaniel asked sceptically.

“He did it when we ‘took’ Kevin from him and his perfect court.”

“It’s been years, do you really think he wouldn’t have matured in that time?”

“I think he’s gotten worse now that his brother’s in charge, it’s no longer about trying to get daddy’s attention and more about trying to make a move for power, with his exy career he’s got money and contacts and fame but it still doesn’t get him any respect with his family.” Andrew explained, he seemed to be very informed on the inner workings of the Moriyama family which made Nathaniel impressed but also wary.

“What of his are we going to take?” Nathaniel asked the question that Andrew has obviously been leading to.

“Everything.” The malice in his tone almost caught Nathaniel off guard.

“Everything?”

“His career. His fame. His ‘perfect court’. His family.”

“And how are two men going to do all that?”

“Well we need to start small and build it up.” Andrew explained as if Nathaniel was an idiot. “We start with his image, it would be a shame if the world found out how their beloved Kevin Day broke his hand.”

“No one would believe you.”

“His father does. He doesn’t know he’s Kevin’s father, of course, but if he did he would not be quiet about it, he might even rally a band of Foxes to corroborate the story.”

“Wait, Foxes? You don’t mean your Coach, do you? David Wymack?”

“He taught Kevin’s mom exy and got her pregnant.”

“Holy shit. Wait, how do you know?”

“Kevin told me.” Andrew said as if it was as simple as that. “So finish your food because we’re going to Palmetto State stadium.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well its been a while but here's chapter 3, getting the story going and trying not to make them ooc but theyre just so hard to write.   
> Please comment what you thought because comments are the best thing to a writer.
> 
> Tumblr: stayneil

**Author's Note:**

> I saw this prompt a good while ago and thought it would be a sick andreil au and had to write it. 
> 
> I don't know how updates will be with this one as its a 'when i feel like writing it i'll write it' kind of fic. 
> 
> Please comment what you thought though!!
> 
> Also anyone who reads my other au Power of Pain dont you worry I haven't abandoned it it's just coming along slowly rn and i'll try and get the next chapter written soon.


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